Systematic Review of Interventions Designed to Teach Imitation to Young Children With Disabilities

Abstract

This review was designed to characterize current intervention research for increasing imitation for young children with disabilities. We identified 34 unique sources including assessments of different types of massed trial and embedded trial interventions. Across intervention types, when evaluated via the Single Case Analysis and Review Framework (SCARF), positive outcomes were more likely to occur when dependent variables were primary (i.e., not secondary to another dependent variable) and context-bound (i.e., collected during intervention sessions). When only primary variables from high-quality studies were considered, embedded trials more often resulted in functional relations. Recommendations for practice include using cues, prompts, and rewards for imitation; teaching imitation to toddlers; attending to imitation function; and teaching imitation in varied contexts.